Sport and Sexuality: Athletic Participation by Sexual Minority and Sexual Majority Adolescents in the U.S

"You Have to Validate It": Experiences of Female Sexual Minority Student-Athletes

Lesbians in sport may reside in a culture of silence due to the fear of being negatively labeled. Often, ideologies regarding lesbian athletes validate social inequalities through institutional practices. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of NCAA female sexual minority student-athletes. Employing purposeful sampling, nine current and former female student-athletes participated in semi-structured interviews. Through a combination of inductive and narrative analyses during the data collection and analysis processes, the findings revealed five higher order themes: (1) climate, (2) validation and norms of behavior, (3), misunderstandings and misconceptions, (4) negotiating identities and risk, and (5) gender ideology and assumptions. Although results of the present study are not generalizable, this study can inform inclusive practices to improve the experiences of sexual minority student-athletes. Further, this study will create awareness regarding the obstacles female sexual minority student-athletes endure on college campuses and within the setting of intercollegiate sport.

Sports Activity Levels of Sexual Minority Groups in Germany

It is widely assumed that LGBT+ people may feel insecure and unwelcome in sports settings, which are often characterized by a binary gender order and a culture of heteronormativity. Previous research also suggests that LGBT+ individuals experience homophobia in the context of sport. Despite these findings, reliable quantitative data on the sports participation levels of sexual minority groups are scarce. The paper addresses this academic void by analyzing sports activity data of sexual minority groups. The 2019 wave of the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) study is analyzed, which includes a novel LGBT+ boost sample of respondents who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or non-binary with regard to gender. The analysis of this sample shows that sports activity levels (with regard to frequency and duration) of homo- and bisexual individuals are comparable to the heterosexual majority. Although findings show that a high share of homo- and bisexual individuals experience sexual discrimination, discrimination is not associated with lower participation rates in sports. We thus conclude that the domain of sport—although by no means free of discrimination—offers sufficient participation opportunities for LGBT+ people.

Sexual Minority Status and Adolescent Eating Behaviors, Physical Activity, and Weight Status

INTRODUCTION

This study examined sexual orientation differences in eating behaviors, physical activity, and weight status among adolescents in the U.S. Moreover, this study tested whether parental and peer influences contribute to sexual orientation disparities in adolescent eating behaviors, physical activity, BMI, and examined disparities in weight misperception.

METHODS

Cross-sectional data were from 1,926 adolescents who participated in the NEXT Generation Health Study in 2010-2011. Linear and multinomial logistic regressions conducted in 2017-2018 were used to test disparities and interactions with social influences.

RESULTS

Relative to their heterosexual peers, sexual minority males and females consumed fruits and vegetables more frequently; sexual minority males engaged in less frequent physical activity; and sexual minority females were more likely to be overweight, perceive themselves as overweight, and to overestimate their weight. High parental expectation for physical activity was associated with more frequent vigorous physical activity among heterosexual adolescents, but less frequent vigorous physical activity among sexual minority males. Exercising with a same-sex peer buffered against the risk of higher BMI among sexual minority females.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental and peer influences may serve as potential intervention targets to reduce disparities in weight-related behaviors. Longitudinal research is needed to understand the consequences of weight misperception among sexual minority females.

Are we leveling the playing field? Trends and disparities in sports participation among sexual minority youth in Canada

PURPOSE

Sports participation and physical fitness are widely beneficial for young people, yet activity levels among young people are declining. Despite growing popular media attention on the participation of sexual minority (e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) youth in sports and various campaigns to improve the often homophobic climate of sports, there is limited evidence that sexual minority youth participate in sports. Our aim was to provide a current portrait of sports participation among 3 groups of sexual minority youth (e.g., lesbian, gay, and bisexual) in British Columbia, Canada, as well as to document population trends.

METHODS

Pooled population-level data from British Columbia, Canada (n = 99,373) were used to examine trends and disparities in sports participation among sexual minority and heterosexual youth. Age-adjusted logistic regression models were used to examine changes in participation over time and disparities in participation over time (1998-2013).

RESULTS

We found an overall decline in sports participation and physical activity (PA) for all youth. Sexual minority students were less likely to participate in formal sports (with a coach) and informal sports (without a coach) compared with their heterosexual peers. The disparity in participating in informal sports between heterosexual and sexual minority youth has narrowed over time for some sexual orientation groups, whereas the disparity in participating in formal sports has widened over time in some cases.

CONCLUSION

This study provides a comprehensive examination of sports participation among sexual minority youth over the past 15 years. Despite changing societal attitudes and laudable efforts to reduce homophobia in sports, results suggest that there are continued barriers to participation for sexual minority youth. Further research is needed to understand the factors that limit sports participation for these youth and to inform program development. PA is critical to lifelong health and well-being, and thus continued efforts are needed to increase the sports participation of sexual minority youth in particular.

The dubious assessment of gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents of add health

In this essay, we argue that researchers who base their investigations of nonheterosexuality derived from reports of romantic attractions of adolescent participants from Wave 1 of Add Health must account for their disappearance in future waves of data collection. The high prevalence of Wave 1 youth with either both-sex or same-sex romantic attractions was initially striking and unexpected. Subsequent data from Add Health indicated that this prevalence sharply declined over time such that over 70 % of these Wave 1 adolescents identified as exclusively heterosexual as Wave 4 young adults. Three explanations are proposed to account for the high prevalence rate and the temporal inconsistency: (1) gay adolescents going into the closet during their young adult years; (2) confusion regarding the use and meaning of romantic attraction as a proxy for sexual orientation; and (3) the existence of mischievous adolescents who played a "jokester" role by reporting same-sex attraction when none was present. Relying on Add Health data, we dismissed the first explanation as highly unlikely and found support for the other two. Importantly, these "dubious" gay, lesbian, and bisexual adolescents may have led researchers to erroneously conclude from the data that sexual-minority youth are more problematic than heterosexual youth in terms of physical, mental, and social health.

Masculinities and sexualities in sport and physical cultures: three decades of evolving research

This article traces the foundation of the study between sport and physical cultures and masculinities and sexualities principally by examining the homophobic zeitgeist by which the academic discipline was formed. I show that the intense homophobia of the mid-1980s waned throughout the 1990s, and that during the new millennia, researchers found more inclusive forms of heterosexuality. Indeed, research on masculinities and homophobia today shows that, even in the traditionally conservative institution of sport, matters have shifted dramatically. This has resulted not only in improved conditions for sexual minorities, but it has also promoted a culture of softer, more tactile and emotional forms of heterosexual masculinities. These studies, alongside those within this special issue of the Journal of Homosexuality, highlight the necessity of developing new ways of theorizing the changing dynamics between masculinities, sexualities, and physical cultures in the next decade.